Detonation devices, as are used for example in tandem hollow charges, require a defined impact shock for activation (cf. Data sheet PEPZ-05 Piezo Fuze System, PEPZ-05, Zaugg Elektronik AG, CH-4573 Lohn-Ammannsegg). It is therefore known to make the tips of projectiles of this type solid to a greater or lesser degree in the form of a bossed cap in order to transmit the necessary activation energy to the detonation device contained in the projectile. Attempts have also been made to activate the detonation chain by a bossed (rounded) shape of the tip upon oblique impact of the projectile on the target.
In practice, however, duds frequently occur, i.e., the projectile is deflected by the target and/or the impact energy absorbed is not sufficient to activate the detonation chain. This problem occurs to an increased degree in the case of tandem hollow charges and multiple warheads which have stand-alone detonation devices independent of one another and in which each detonation device has a separate safety characteristic.
A projectile with at least one active charge and with an impact part is known from EP-A1-595 173, in which its stable jacket is coated with a rubber-like layer. In this way a so-called “eraser effect” is achieved in the case of flat angles of impact at the target, i.e. the projectile is braked in order to cause the active charge to detonate on the spot. Grooves and the like are provided inter alia in order to anchor the layer in an effective, positively locking manner, so that the desired delay occurs at the target even in the case of flat angles of impact.
Hard faces, for example armour plating covered with ceramic plates, cannot be successfully penetrated with this solution. The jet of material formed cannot penetrate the armour plating with a hollow charge which strikes the target at a flat angle; although it is triggered at the correct time, it is then deflected together with the impact part.
In order to prevent the projectile head from rebounding and slipping off, an anti-tank projectile as described in BE-A-530 433 has at least one toothed ring which is mounted on a double hood of the projectile head. The toothed ring consists of a very hard material and therefore suitable for engaging steel plates.
A mounted toothed ring is not suitable against modern armour plating with a plurality of external ceramic plates. The ring either escapes out of its anchoring and/or breaks into pieces. Individual plates or a plurality of plates can likewise spring off, so that the projectile thus slips off before it can deploy its only active charge. Another drawback of such a projectile is its aerodynamically disadvantageous shape which leads to an unstable trajectory of the projectile at high speeds. In addition, the shock wave required for the activation of the detonation generator cannot spread in a desired manner over the jacket of the projectile, so it is not possible to use such a construction for a multiple charge warhead.
The object of the present invention is therefore to provide an impact part which produces the necessary energy required for initiating a detonation even in the case of projectiles which strike the target at an oblique angle of impact.